Lock-knife



(No Model.)

I. E. HOTGHK ISS. LOCK KNIFE.

No. 557,818. PatentedApr. 7, 1896.

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UNITED STATES ATENT OFFICE,

ISAAC EMERSON HOTCHKISS, OF IVATERVILLE, CONNECTICUT.

LOCK-KNIFE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 557,818, dated April 7, 1896.

Application filed January 10, 1896. Serial N0. 574,971) (No model.)

To all whom it nmy concern.-

Be it known that I, Isaac EMERSON Heron- KISS, a citizen of the United States, residing 'at YVaterville, in the county of New Haven and State of Connecticut, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Look- Knives; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to the class of pocketknives and similar implements in which the blade swings in a plane at right angles to the plane of the handle and may be locked in either the open or closed position; and my invention has for its object to produce a knife or other implement of this character which shall comprise the fewest possible number of parts and in which the cost of construction shall be reduced to the minimum, it being contemplated that while the handle shall be neat and attractive in appearance its expense shall be so trifling that a knife or other implement having a first-class blade or tool may be produced at a price that will enable it to be sold as low, if not lower, than articles of an inferior grade have heretofore been sold.

With these ends in view I have devised the novel construction of which the following description, in connection with the accompanying drawings, is a specification, letters and numbers being used to designate the several parts.

Figure 1 is aside elevation of my novel loc ;-knife in the closed position; Fig. 2, a similar view, the blade being in the open position; and Fig. 3 is an edge view, the blade being in a partly-open position as when being swung either to the open or closed position.

A denotes the handle, which is cast in a single piece and is open on both sides, there being no scales or cheek-pieces. At one side of the handle, the farthest from the pointof view, as seen in Figs. 1 and 2, is a cross-piece 1, against which the blade may rest and which prevents the blade from being swung past and out at the other side.

B denotes the blade, which is shown as pro vided with the usual tang 2 and notch 3 at the back of the tang. This is in order that stool:-

blades made for ordinary handles may be used in connection with my novel handle, there be ing no necessity for a special form of blade or tang.

at denotes the pivot, which passes through the edges of the handle and through the tang near the base of the tang and in the plane of the blade, so that the blade will swing in a plane at right angles to the plane of the handle. The blade end of the handle is preferably provided with a solid head or bolsterC, which is provided with a recess 5 to receive the tang, and also with a recess 6, which receives a slide 7, which lies in a plane substantially parallel to the face plane of the handle.

I have shown the forward end of the slide as made wider than the rear end and the edge of the handle cut away, as at 8, to receive the widened portion of the slide. The slide is provided with a slot 9, through which a stud 10 passes, said stud being headed down so as to hold the slide in any position in which it may be placed by friction, but leaving the slide free to be moved by the hand in either direction as maybe required to lock the blade in the open or closed position.

The operation will be readily understood from the drawings. In the closed position the rear end of the slide passes far enough over the base of the blade, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, to lock the blade and hold it firmly in position, and in the open position, as in Fig. 2, the forward end of the slide passes over the base of the blade and looks it in that position. The operation will be readily understood from the drawings. Suppose'that the blade is in the closed position, as in Fig. 1. The operator pushes the slide forward far enough to release the blade; then swings the blade in a plane at right angles to the plane of the handle, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 3, to the open position; then forces the slide forward, as in Fig. 2, to lock the blade in the open position.

Having thus described my invention, I claim 1. The combination with a handle open at both sides and having a cross-piece for the purpose set forth and a head having a recess 5, of a blade having a tang which is pivoted in recess 5 so that the blade will swing in a plane at right angles to the face plane of the handle, and a slide lying substantially parallel to the face plane of the handle and adapted to pass over the base of the blade in either the open or closed position to retain it in either position.

2. The combination with a handle open at both sides and having a crosspiece 1 and a head 0 having, recesses 5 and 6, of a blade having a tang which is pivoted in recess 5 so that the blade will swing in a plane at right angles to the face plane of the handle and a slide lying in recess 6 and adapted to pass over the base of the blade in either the open or closed position and provided with a slot 9 and a stud passing through the slot and headed down so as to retain the slide in any 15 position in which it may be placed.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ISAAC EMERSON HOTCHKISS. Vitnesses:

C. H. HART, C. E. HART. 

